We just received a message from German promoter/ticket agency Eventim that tickets for the KISS show at Waldbuhne in Berlin (Germany) on June 12 next year are on sale as of… now. According to the website, it will be the only KISS concert in Germany in 2013! Earlier, several Scandinavian dates for 2013 were announced. And as always, rumors are flying about possible other European dates, including big festivals such as Belgian’s Graspop Metal Meeting and England’s Download festival.

The limited edition 7″ vinyl box set of KISS: The Casablanca Singleswas previously announced as being only available through Universal Music’s special Select website in the USA, but it now turns out that like the CD version of the box the vinyl version will also be released worldwide. It’s the first time these singles have been digitally remastered and compiled together into one comprehensive collection. Current release date is December 3.

Worldwide, both boxes will be limited to only 2,500 copies each so that means only very few will be available per country. Also, both versions include the masks that came with the solo album singles back in ’78. KISS: The Casablanca Singles will be released on Universal’s Mercury/Casablanca/USM label.

A short summary of the record companys info sheet reads: Out of the 29 singles featured in the box sets, there are 26 highly collectable picture sleeves from original single releases around the world including Japan, Germany, Holland, Spain and the U.K., plus a 36-page booklet with unreleased photos and track annotations. The sets also feature reissues of the 4 singles from all four solo albums from 1978  the vinyl collection with special purple, blue, red and green vinyl  complete with a mask picture sleeve representing each individual member as originally released in the U.K.

In Holland (and perhaps other countries too), a lot of fans are still waiting for their pre-ordered LP version of the new KISS album Monster. Some (web)stores are now even claiming the LP isn’t available anymore. And sadly for those fans, that is correct. But the good news is, more LP’s will be pressed so Monster will be available again on vinyl in the near future.

Meanwhile here’s a nice screen shot of some of the album’s chartings as listed by Billboard in the USA (including number 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums):

The forthcoming autobiography by original/former KISS drummer Peter Criss, titled Makeup to Breakup – My life in and out of KISS, might be the most interesting one to date. Check out a detailed review by clicking here.

Danko Jones has never made it a secret that he’s a big KISS fan (just see his recent column for Huffington Post or some of his many podcasts), but these days he seems to be talking about The Hottest Band In The World more than ever. During the press tour promoting his brand new album Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue, he mentioned KISS more than he ever did before, on the recently released Danko Jones DVD Bring On The Mountain he talks about KISS and also in his autobiography Too Much Trouble – A Very Oral History Of Danko Jones (which just came out) he isn’t shy making clear KISS is his favorite band in the world (as an only child, at the age of six he thought the members of KISS were his brothers). Check out the first chapter of his book, which details how he grew up with KISS, here. And the cover of his book clearly shows which Demon was a big influence on him…